


The Masquerade [DISCONTINUED, SEE LAST CHAPTER FOR DETAILS]

by SeanIsExisting



Category: Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Fiction, Fluff, M/M, Web Series: Tales from the SMP
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-15
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-17 12:28:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29471697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SeanIsExisting/pseuds/SeanIsExisting
Summary: When time traveler Karl is sent to a dark forest in the middle of nowhere, he stumbles upon a mansion.With a masquerade party taking place, it's the perfect distraction for a murderer to strike. Karl needs to figure out why he was sent here in the first place, who the murderer is, and how to stop them.
Relationships: Karl Jacobs/Sapnap
Kudos: 20





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> First fanfiction.
> 
> I'm awful at summaries, so just read the story haha. This is just for fun! If you've watched the Masquerade episode from Tales From The SMP, then you'll know what this is. It doesn't follow the entire storyline as I've changed some things to better fit the fic. Each chapter will have over 1000 words. Enjoy :]
> 
> Ill try to update every week!

Crinkled papers ripped from the leather skin book, floating around with the dust particles in the small stream of light, shining from above. The shadows casting from the large oak trees made it impossible to see, even in broad daylight. The wet grass beneath him and the sound of hawks in the distance made everything feel unreal. 

He didn’t know why he was here, or when he got here, all he knew is that there was a reason, and he needed to find it. His sweater, now damp from the wet blades of grass, stuck to his sides. He pushed his dark brown hair away from his gray eyes, looking at his surroundings. He quickly gathered all the scattered pages, shoving them back into his book, hoping the ink didn’t wash away. He sighed, leaning up against a tree, holding his book close to his chest. The hawks in the distance grew fainter until the only sound he could hear was the light breeze, nipping at his ears.

He slowly stood up, brushing the dirt off his bright neon sweater.

Just walk. You’ll be fine, you’ll find something. You aren’t sent to these places for nothing.

He let the book fall to his side in his hands as he began to walk forward. He didn’t know where he was going, or if he even needed to find anything. Nothing was lost, he just needed to find something. Anything. He wouldn’t have been sent to this place for nothing, there had to be a reason. He could tell by the lack of civilization he wasn’t in the present nor future, but the past. Travelling to the past could only mean something bad was happening in the present, he knew that from experience. He began to pick up the pace, knowing something awful was happening in the present. If he could get this over with, he could go back and stop whatever’s about to happen. Nobody knew of his travels through time. He kept it all a secret to avoid anything happening. He knew he would be locked away if anybody knew about the knowledge he possessed, and he simply can’t have that happen. 

After walking for what seemed like an eternity through the cold, dense forest, the sound of trickling water hit his ears. Surly there wasn’t a waterfall around this area, it must have been a fountain of some sorts. He shivered as wind passed by him, making the leaves above tremble. He walked towards the sound, and sure enough, a fountain came into view. A large, white marble fountain. It was magnificent, he thought. Water shot up from the top, falling down the sides in four different streams, down to the circular bottom. That’s when he noticed the gigantic wooden mansion in front of him. Moss and vines growing from the oak walls, small roses budding. Surrounding the whole area was forest, which he found odd. Why was there a mansion in the middle of nowhere? Cobblestone path went around the fountain and up to the staircase of the building. 

Is this where I’m supposed to be? He thought to himself, walking closer to the fountain.

He brought his hands to the fountain, leaning against the cold marble. Drops of water hit his back as he contemplated what to do next. He wanted to return home as soon as possible, and decided the only way to do that was to get this over with, and see what was in the mansion. He sighed, standing up straight, taking his now cold hands off the fountain. He made his way ‘round the fountain on the broken path, streetlamps shining dimly. The sun was setting on the horizon, the sky now a vibrant orange colour. He smiled, taking a moment to think about the time he had a picnic with Sapnap in a forest behind Eret’s castle, in the sunset. Travelling made him slowly lose his memory, and even forget who he is. Somehow, he never forgot Sapnap. He hoped that would never change.

Snapping out of his thoughts and back into reality, he continued forward, soon stopping in front of the stone steps, leading up to two large wooden doors. He took a deep breath before walking up, book still in hand. When he reached the door, he slowly put his hand out, and knocked three times on the large door. He could hear the echo inside which made him jump a little. He waited a minute, but there was no answer. He was about to knock once more when the door slowly creaked open, someone appearing from behind. A man with pitch black hair and a tuxedo with a piercing red tie appeared. He was also wearing a golden mask around his eyes, with small rubies.  
“Hello, can I help you?” The man uttered out, keeping the door open only a few inches. Before he could say anything, another man appeared behind him. He had pink skin along with long pink hair, tied up in a braid with a few loose strands framing his face. He wore a black suit with a white cravate, golden shoulder pads, and a half black half gold eye mask. He wore small earrings with what seemed to be rubies. He opened the door, revealing the inside of the mansion. He leaned up against the door, smiling.

“Ah, hello! You must be here for the party, yes? What’s your name, boy?” The man had a deep, slightly raspy voice. 

“Oh uh, my name is Karl, Karl Jacobs.” Karl responded shyly, keeping his book tucked behind his back. Karl now knew there was some sort of party going on, from the masks, a masquerade party. He thought it was odd he was sent back in time to a masquerade party, of all things.

“Well welcome, Karl! As you probably know already, I am Sir Billiam. I decided to host this little shindig for my colleagues, seeing as it is Halloween after all.” Sir Billiam said, clapping his hands together. He nodded at the black haired boy.

“Oh yes, and I am Ranboo, Sir Billaims butler.” Ranboo said, handing Karl a dark purple mask to match his sweater. Karl looked back to Sir Billaim who cleared his throat, signaling the butler to leave.

“One of my co-workers said a guy with a purple sweater would be showing up, so I had this mask custom made just for you.” Sir Billaim said, looking down at the mask in Karl’s hands. Who in this time could possibly know who he is? He took a moment to examine the mask, looking at each gold flake and jewel. He smiled, bringing the mask up to his eyes. Sir Billaim chuckled lightly, moving out of the way, gesturing for Karl to enter the mansion. And boy and boy, was it absolutely amazing. He felt his jaw drop at the sight. Two staircases on each side of the huge, open room led up to a second floor, a crystal chandelier hanging from above. The walls were made of stone, and lanterns were hung from them to light up the room. A red carpet went all the way from the door to an opening on the other side of the mansion. Cobwebs could be seen on the stairs along with the chandelier, it was clearly a very old, but beautiful building. The door slammed shut behind him, Sir Billaim coming to stand next to Karl.

“This place was built centuries ago, still amazing though, huh?” Karl simply nodded, still in awe, looking around. 

“Well then, I’ll take you on a quick tour before the others arrive! Come along.” Sir Billaim said excitedly, walking forwards on the dark red carpet. Karl trailed behind, stopping to look at an old, antique piano beside the right staircase. He ran his fingers over the keys, looking up at all the paintings hung on the stone walls.

“Over here is the ballroom, nothing fancy, pretty standard.” Sir Billaim looked into the ballroom. Nothing fancy? Karl couldn’t disagree more, it was like something out of an old fairytale. The stone work on the walls was breathtaking, the large open floor perfect for dancing. Karl followed Sir Billaim out of the ballroom, and went to the right to see two wooden doors. Sir Billaim opened the first, revealing yet another huge room.

“This is one of our smaller guest bedrooms. This is practically nothing compared to the other rooms.” Sir Billaim stated, arms behind his back as he looked around.

“Smaller? This is ginormous!” Karl exclaimed, twirling around to look at everything before flopping onto the bed.

“I guess. It’s perfect if there’s.. Let’s say twenty-six guests and a twenty-seventh showed up, they would take this room. If they wanted one of the larger, nicer sweets, they should have showed up earlier.” Sir Billaim shrugged, fixing a crooked painting above the fireplace. Karl simply nodded before standing back up, exiting the room with the much taller man. They made their way to the right, Sir Billaim pushing open another door to another bedroom.

“Another guest bedroom, again nothing special.” He said, shutting the door, not bothering to go in as it was pretty much identical to the last, only a bit bigger. They made their way across the mansion, over to the left staircase. A large opening in the wall leads to a room with shelves upon shelves of books.

“Here is our library! Most books here haven’t been touched in centuries. It’s also extremely dusty, try not to touch anything.” Sir Billaim said, standing in front of one of the book shelves. Karl looked up to see another crystal chandelier, smaller than the one in the entrance. Karl placed his book gently on one of the shelves, he would come back for it after. As they began to walk over to a painting of what seemed to be the Wither, a breeze from a nearby open window swept into the room. It pushed the book open, the pages flipping until a blank page was present. Without anyone's knowledge, words began forming by themselves in jet black ink, photos of the mansion appearing beside the unknown sentences.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After touring the large mansion, the rest of the guests start to show up for the masquerade. One person in particular though catches Karl's attention.
> 
> With almost, if not all, of the guests here, it's time to get the masquerade started.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm back! Sorry this is out so late, I was hoping to have it out earlier, but that's okay haha. I was hoping this would be longer, I was going to include some more but I just wanted to get a chapter out. Next few chapters I'm aiming for 2.5k+ words, this one has 1.7k.
> 
> Also, I noticed in chapter 1 I was spelling Sir Billiam as Sir Billaim. From now on it will be spelled correctly, I apologize for that! Again I suck at summaries so ignore that. I'm excited for the next few chapters, I have lots of stuff planned! (That didn't happen in the episode hehe) ;)
> 
> Enjoy!

The room became darker as the sun was almost fully set. More people had to arrive soon, it was nearing closer and closer to midnight. Sir Billiam was rambling on about one of his favourite paintings, the one with the Wither, when a loud knock was heard from the door. It bounced off the walls, echoing in every room. Karl’s head jerked around from the painting he was looking at, looking at the door. 

“Looks like the others have finally shown up!” Sir Billiam spoke up, walking out of the library towards the door, his long hair swaying behind him. Karl let out a small sigh of relief, he felt very intimidated being with Sir Billiam on his own. Something about him was…. Off. Sure, he was a lot taller with defined muscles, and a raspy deep voice, but it was something about his personality. The way he acted. Karl couldn’t quite put his finger on it. He snapped back into reality, shaking his head, walking forward to meet Sir Billiam at the door. He unlocked the large wooden door, pulling it open. Sir Billiam smiled at the short scrawny man who appeared. He was dressed in a simple black blazer, with a small rose poking out the top pocket, and jeans. He wore a full-face fox mask, silky black hair strands falling over his eyes. 

“Good evening!” He exclaimed, shaking Sir Billiams hand. He drifted his gaze over to Karl, raising an eyebrow at the sight. “Oh uh, who is this? He doesn’t look familiar?” The man asked, turning back to look up at Sir Billiam. 

“Ah yes, this is Karl Jacobs. I don’t know him personally, I was told by another colleague he would be coming.” Sir Billiam replied, hands behind his back. The man with the fox mask grinned, putting his hand out to shake Karl’s.

“Very nice to meet you, Karl! I’m Oliver.” He said. Karl took Oliver’s hand in his, giving it a quick, firm shake. “Interesting outfit choice.” Oliver looked him up and down, slightly nodding his head. Karl chuckled, fidgeting with the small golden ring on his pinky finger.

“Butler! Bring our guest some champagne.” Sir Biliaim called up the stairs, waiting to see Ranboo appear at the top. The butler came running down the stairs, bottle of champagne in one hand, a glass in the other. He popped open the bottle, quickly filling the glass up half-way. He handed the glass to Oliver, who nodded in thanks.

“Thank you, you may be excused for now.” Sir Billiam shooed Ranboo away with his gloved hand. Ranboo trailed off up the stairs, tuxedo tails flying up behind him. Karl opened his mouth to speak, but was quickly interrupted by an unfamiliar voice behind him. He turned around to see a brunette man leaning against the door, fixing the collar on his white button up shirt. He wore a light brown jacket and face mask.

“Lord Sebastion! It’s been far too long, old friend!” Sir Billiam pushed past Oliver and Karl, pulling the brunette boy into a hug, patting him on the back. Sebastian laughed, returning the hug. His dark brown eyes darted around the room before landing on Karl, standing beside Oliver who was adjusting his fluffy mask.

“The help looks different since that time I was here.” Sebastian stated, pulling down his mask to get a better look at the multicoloured, wrinkled and slightly dirty sweater Karl wore. He had what seemed to be an English accent. Sir Billiam chuckled, swinging an arm around Karl’s shoulders.

“No no, this is Karl Jacobs, he’s one of my business partners colleagues.” Sir Billiam gave Karl a pat on the back before putting his hands back behind his back. 

“Ah, very wealthy then I see!” Sebastian replied, leaning off the doorway and walking in, hand out to shake Karl’s. Karl let out a laugh at those words, gladly taking his hand to shake it. This man reminded him of somebody, he was oddly familiar. Sebastian looked over to the drink in Oliver’s hand, and looked up to Sir Billaim. “Do you by chance have any wine?”

“Well of course I do, wouldn’t be a true masquerade without it, eh?” Sir Billiam and Sebastion shared a laugh before Ranboo came running into view, glass and wine bottle in hand. Karl found him quite odd, he never spoke nor had much personality. Sure, he was just a butler after all, but something about him wasn’t right. Karl decided to ignore that for now, he didn’t want to judge others for something like that. 

Sir Billiam looked happily surprised with his butler. Without saying a word, Ranboo popped open the bottle and poured Sebastion a glass, handing it to him with a smile. Sebastian muffled a small but kind ‘thank you.’ “Wow Ranboo, that was impressive! You get to eat this week!” Sir Billiam spoke as if that was the greatest news his butler has ever received, and Karl hoped that wasn’t true.

“Well then, are we getting this party started or are there more guests coming?” Karl clapped his hands together, trying to keep his voice enthusiastic when he spoke to not seem suspicious. He knew he stood out from the others, he couldn’t have them know he’s not from here. He watched as Sir Billiam turned to him, taking his black leather gloves off, and placing them on top of the piano. 

“Oh, we are waiting on just a few more people, they should all arrive soon enough.” Sir Billiam replied, Karl simply nodded, twisting his hoodie strings on his fingers, getting impatient. He didn’t have much time, he needed to return to the present as soon as possible to stop whatever’s about to happen. Oliver and Sebastion were discussing something, Karl only heard crumbs of that conversation, something about money and wealth. All these people are very wealthy, Karl could only assume whatever business they’re running is very high-class and well paying. He was beginning to zone-out when he heard footsteps come up the stone steps outside. Finally, more guests.

Karl didn’t care much who it was, until he saw him. The white collared shirt lined with gold, sleeves rolled up just below this man’s elbows and unbuttoned at the top, lifted collar, black trousers with suspenders coming up and around his broad shoulders, a white shattered mask carved with golden letters and drawings, covering half of his face, wavy messy hair falling just above his eyes. It was much longer than Karl’s, going down to his collarbone. A golden earring hung on one ear, a necklace with a gold and silver pendant of what seemed to be a flame hung around his neck, falling on his chest. He was slender yet muscular with some stubble across his chin and cheeks. His piercing blue eyes shone with the moonlight filling the room. To say he was stunning was an understatement. Karl looked over every feature of him. His strong yet soft jawline, black painted nails, his cheeks tinted pink from the chilly weather. He caught himself staring, and quickly turned his head away before the raven haired man noticed. 

“James, welcome! It’s been such a long time.” Sir Billiam exclaimed, resting the palm of his hand on James’ shoulder. James slightly smiled.

“Good to see you as well. You guys got any more alcohol?” James muttered, looking at the drinks in Oliver and Sebastian's hands, fidgeting with his shimmering necklace.

“My butler will get you some wine. Ah yes, how’s the wife?” Sir Billiam took his hand off James’ shoulder, pushing loose strands of light pink hair away from his eyes.

“Divorced.” James stated, practically emotionless. Everybody, including Karl looked at each other, a look of confusion and sympathy in everybodies gaze, but mainly confusion. James’ eyes lit up as Ranboo came into the room from the library, handing James a bottle of some sort of alcohol. 

“I’m uh.. Sorry to hear that. How about the family, huh? How’s the family?” Sir Billiam asked, trying to lighten the mood a bit. Clearly that didn’t work.

“Gone.” James sighed, tilting his head back and taking a long swig of his drink. He let out a small gasp as he brought the bottle down, wiping his lips with the back of his hand. 

“Uh- well-” Sebastian with stuttering and not sure what to say, just like everybody else. James’ wasn’t the most enthusiastic or happy person, they could all tell that. Still incredibly handsome though, Karl thought. 

“You are hard to talk to these days.” Sir Billiam shook his head, chuckling. Karl swore he saw James grin before taking another sip of his drink. James glared at Karl, making him jump and take a step closer to Sir Billiam. James seemed to find that funny and let out an amused huff, then turning to look at Sir Billiam.

“I saw someone walking not far behind me, I assume they’re also coming here for the masquerade.” James said, looking behind him to the open door, a figure coming up the mansion in the distance. It was too dark to make out any of this figures' features. Oliver and Sebastion went back to talking when James looked over to Karl, slouching back, arms crossed on his lower waist. He looked Karl up and down, smirking.

“I like the colours on your sweater, it makes you stand out.” James said nonchalantly. Karl felt his cheeks warm up, trying to figure out what to say.

“Oh uh, yeah, thanks! I really like purple. Your mask is really cool, it’s very different from everyones, but I like it.” Karl mentally slapped himself for that one, he stuttered on every other word and was still fidgeting with the strings on his hoodie. He could barely make eye contact with the guy. James seemed to notice Karl’s nervous state since his expression softened. 

“Thanks! Do you want to go get something to dr-” He was cut off by the sound of a soft, enchanting voice behind him. James turned around to see an absolutely gorgeous blonde girl wearing a silky blue dress with hundreds of small jewels sewn in. Her small shoulders were visible, a silver necklace hanging around her neck. The dress was a pastel blue, flowing all the way down to the ground. Her eye mask was the same colour, with two small white feathers hanging on the right side. Diamonds and crystals covered the mask, sparkling in the light. Though hard to see, Karl could tell her eyes were green. A beautiful, dark, forest green. 

“Now what have I walked into? Has the party begun without me?” The girl said. Her voice was like silk, it was soft and calm. Sir Billiams eyes lit up at the sight of her.

“You’re here! I’ve been waiting, fashionably late as usual I presume?” The girl laughed along with Sir Billiam. She looked around to the others smiling.

“I’m Learia, one of Sir Billiam’s friends. I heard there was a masquerade going on tonight, and he knows I wouldn’t miss that for the world.” Learia placed a hand on Sir Billiam’s golden shoulder pad, Sir Billiam smiling at her.

“Well, most if not all of us are here, why don’t we get this thing started?” Learia excitedly said. Everybody nodded, smiling and chattering as they walked into the ballroom, Ranboo trailing behind with some music discs. Karl thought some dancing and fun would take his mind off everything happening, and what he will be returning to in the present. If he ever returns, that is.


	3. Authors Note [IMPORTANT]

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Explanation!

Hello everyone! This story isn't very popular so I hope this isn't a major inconvenience to anybody. 

Anyways, this story is discontinued. I've simply lost inspiration and motivation to write this, mainly because the episode was so long ago. I have a few other book ideas that I'm pretty excited for! I'm going to refine the concepts a bit and decide which one I want to write. The first chapter of a new story should hopefully be out in 1-2 weeks depending on how busy I get and how long it takes to polish an idea. I've always wanted to write a SMP au where everybody has some sort of magical ability, and I have 2 story plots for an au like that. I also really want to take a shot at a book based in the SMP, I love stories like that, but I don't have many ideas. 

Basically I'm trying to think of things that aren't that over-used, then again it's hard since I'm sure there's already a lot of fanfictions related to the whole magical ability au. I don't want to stop writing, since for me fanfiction is an awesome way to practice. I do indeed have stories in mind that aren't fanfiction, but I don't think my writing is at a good enough level to do that just yet. All I know is that the magical ability au is something I've always wanted to do since I live for fantasy stuff like that, and like I've said I got 2 story plots for that. Depending on what I decide in the end, it may be based on the actual SMP. 

Okay, enough rambling! I hope you enjoyed the little bit of story you got from this, I apologize that it wasn't much and that I'm not finishing it. But hey, at least you know what would have happened anyways if you watched the episode. 

See ya in the next book!


End file.
